Our Bedroom Flooring Reveal + Dogwood by Bruce Densified Wood Flooring Review

Disclosure: For this post, I received products to review from Dogwood by Bruce. All opinions are my own and always will be! Thanks for supporting content that keeps Jojotastic going.

You guys… this reveal is a long time coming and I am SO happy that it’s finally here! Our bedroom suite project has been about a year in the making. And, while it’s still a work in progress, installing these gorgeous densified wood floors from Dogwood by Bruce is a major step toward completing it. It’s astounding how big of a difference this one change has made! So today I wanted to walk you through the installation of our new floors, why we chose densified wood flooring, and a full Dogwood by Bruce review. Let’s get started!

All About Our New Dogwood by Bruce Densified Wood Flooring

Before Photos

As a reminder, let’s revisit how the room started. This batch of photos is from when we first toured the house, before we were even under contract. As you can see, there was a lovely combination of pastel paint colors, brown carpet, and a TV hanging in the center of the room. Move in ready!

The following photos are from after we removed the 1980s brown carpet a few months after moving in — I will spare you with additional details about how gross that was. We found that below the carpet was linoleum and then the concrete slab.

In an effort to move out of our guest room and actually live in this room, we then installed subflooring and the beadboard paneling. Then we proceeded to live in the work-in-progress space for about 8 months!

Process Photos

I took so many photos while we were installing our Dogwood by Bruce flooring because I really wanted you to see how easy it is to actually install flooring yourself. Sean and I are handy and it was so nice to be able to complete this project ourselves.

Because of our climate, we added a layer of insulation under the plywood subflooring to help us save on energy costs. If you’ve been a follower of mine for a while, you know that we then lived with the subflooring for about 8 months! I’m so grateful to have this major project crossed off the punch list.

We ultimately decided to begin installing the floor in the area where our bed is located and then work across the room. The room has a LOT of angles, so we got really good at sorting through the various sized planks to find ones that would fit. Then we used small shims to hold the floating floor in place.

Before we installed the baseboards, we cut the shims to the same level as the floor to hold the planks in place. My job was to pick pieces I liked for wood grain pattern and vacuuming up any debris during the installation process.

The most surprising part of the entire installation process was how quickly it went in. We installed the ENTIRE floor over the course of a weekend, then spent another weekend doing finishing touches like baseboards.

Flooring Reveal

How absolutely stunning are our new floors?? I am beyond obsessed. We ultimately chose “Shetland” Red Oak as our finish. I like that the planks are wider, measuring 7.5″ wide, and that the finish was low gloss. This finish not only complements my design plan for the overall room, but elevates the space. It’s come so far!

In case you’re in the market for updating the flooring in your home, I wanted to share more info in this review about why you should consider Dogwood by Bruce densified wood flooring. If you have any additional questions, leave a comment and I’ll do my best to answer!

What is densified wood flooring?

Before Dogwood by Bruce reached out to partner, I didn’t know much about wood flooring. Essentially, densified wood is a patent-pending process that closes the open cells in hardwood, which then produces the hardest wood flooring on the market. This means that this flooring is perfect for high-traffic areas and those of us with pets.

Keep in mind that these floors are 100% real hardwood — they aren’t laminate. Instead they are engineered to be 2.5x more durable than traditional floors. As soon as I saw that, I was like SIGN ME UP!

What makes Dogwood by Bruce so special?

There is a LOT to love about our new floors. Here are some of the major benefits of Dogwood by Bruce flooring:

• High resistance to scratches, dents, stains, and other day-to-day wear and tear. Because our bedroom has an exterior door, this was especially important to us.
• Cleantivity: an antimicrobial protective coating to help resist bacteria, mold, and mildew. Our climate is super wet, so this is a huge selling point for us.
• Water resistance: Dogwood can stand up to spills up to 8 hours!
• Kid and pet friendly: As you know, we have many pets, so our top priority was ensuring that any materials we use can stand up to their abuse. Dogwood is incredibly durable and even resists gouges from pet nails!
• Made in the USA: I’m a fan of products that help to support fellow citizens.

What finishes are available?

There are 13 different finishes — and they are all named after dogs. HOW CUTE IS THAT! We chose “Shetland” Red Oak which has a low gloss finish and wire brushed surface texture.

How can Dogwood flooring be installed?

We chose to install ours as a floating floor, but you can also glue, staple, or nail down the planks onto the subfloor.

In conclusion, we are very, very pleased with our Dogwood densified wood flooring and highly recommend checking it out! Eventually, once budget and time allows, we hope to install it in the rest of our cabin for a more unified aesthetic.

Photography & styling by Jojotastic.